Hitting American screens in mid-February is Yankee Zulu, starring comedian Leon Shuster, who finds humor in the absurd side of the new South Africa. This romp incorporates various ethnic switches and chase sequences, and promises the irreverent mix of slapstick and visual gags which have made Shuster a star from his previous five comedies. Heavy takes us to an upstate New York tavern for a slice of life about a young man (Pruitt Taylor Vince) and his obsession with a beautiful woman (Liv Tyler) who passes through and disrupts the lives of the man, his mother (Shelley Winters), the tavern's waitress (Deborah Harry) and Tyler's boyfriend (Evan Dando). Writer/director James Mangold brings all these talents together for a quiet, romantic film scheduled for a June release.
...Cinevista...
Parallel Sons, John G. Young's feature debut, takes a look at a gay, interracial romance and has racked up a variety of awards at film festivals around the country. The Suzanne Bier-directed Like it Never was Before is based on a screenplay by gay Swedish stand-up comic Jonas Gardell. The film tells the story of a seaside romance between a young magician and a middle-aged, middle-class family man. Both films are scheduled for theatrical release in the spring. Cinevista releases to video Abuse, Arthur J. Bressan Jr.'s film based on a true story about an abused 14-year-old who meets a filmmaker shooting a documentary about child abuse. Bressan's film Buddies, back in 1983, was one of the first films to address the AIDS crisis.
...Dove International...
In February, writer/director Josh Evans debuts with Inside the Goldmine, the story of two privileged young friends in Los Angeles whose friendship is tested when each become suspects in a murder investigation. The 23-year-old Evans, son of producer Robert Evans and actress Ali MacGraw, also stars in the picture (he also appeared in Born on the 4th of July and The Doors) which pokes fun at the entertainment industry and the disillusionment of today's youth. The following month, Scott Caan teams up with his dad, James, for his feature acting debut in A Boy Called Hate, an action drama about a teen tough who witnesses a rape, accidentally murders a rapist, and ends up on the run with the woman. Mitch Marcus wrote and directed this whirlwind romance about the meaning of trust. Coming to video is Klash, an action thriller set in the steamy world of dance hall reggae, starring Jasmine Guy, Bill Parker and Giancarlo Esposito. En route to a massive battle of the bands in Jamaica, a photographer stumbles onto an exotic woman from his past and finds himself involved with the Jamaican underworld. The film was directed by Parker, a veteran of music videos and concert films for Stevie Wonder and Ziggy Marley. Also on video, Wavelength (formerly E=MC2) starring Jeremy Piven as an American physicist in Oxford, England who will do anything to complete one of Einstein's final obsessions and discovers some things about himself along the way.
...The Edge Cinema...
A new distributor based in Pasadena introduces Kirk Harris's film, Loser, to screens in April after traveling the festival circuit. The film, which Harris wrote, directed and starred in, tells the tale of an early twenties small town drug dealer bent on self-destruction. The film opens with James Dean Ray with a bullet hole in his chest, and uses flashbacks to delve into the circumstances that brought him to this situation. Darkly humorous, the film is billed as "a sensitive look at a young man with nowhere to go and getting there as fast as he can." Also of note is the cinematography by Kent Wakeford, the DP on Scorsese's Mean Streets and Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore.
...Filmopolis Pictures...
Catherine Deneuve and Daniel Auteuil star in Ma Saison Preferee (My Favorite Season), the story of a brother and sister who confront the emptiness of their lives when their mother begins to lose her health and her powers of reason. Directed by Andre Techine (Wild Reeds), the drama's larger theme of individual freedom and the coldness of the modern world is reflected in the story of two distant siblings examining the choices they've made in their lives. Ma Saison Preferee debuts in America in March along with Target, a dramatic epic set in India about "untouchable" peasant villagers against the oppressive conditions forced on them by landowners. The film claims to present a true-to-life account of the plight of many of India's villagers and stars Om Puri as the hunter who takes up arms in a struggle against inhuman conditions.
...Fine Line...
From writer/director Bryan Gordon, winner of an Academy Award for his short, Ray's Male Heterosexual Dance Hall, comes Pie in the Sky, starring Josh Charles (Threesome, Dead Poets Society) in a whimsical saga about a young man in pursuit of the girl next store played by Anne Heche (The Juror, Emmy Award Winner for "Another World"). Featured in supporting roles are Christine Lahti and John Goodman.
...Gramercy...
Early in '96, Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon team up again for Dead Man Walking. Robbins is behind the camera this time for his second directorial effort. The film is based on a true story about a repentant killer (Sean Penn) who suffers during his long countdown to execution and finds himself with a nun (Sarandon) as his pen pal. Given the cumulative talents of this trio and the advance buzz, Dead Man Walking has a lot of potential. In Jack and Sarah, due for release in February, Richard Grant, Ian McKellen and Samantha Mathis head a cast in a story about a British man in search of the perfect nanny for his infant daughter. Since the conflict here is apparently that the nanny ends up being American, I'm hoping this one's a comedy. Gramercy also brings us the latest Coen Brothers picture, Fargo, which stars Steve Buscemi, Frances McDormand and Harve Pressnell, scheduled for release in late February.
...Live Entertainment...
Germany's biggest domestic hit last year, Maybe...Maybe Not is a comedy of errors about Axel, a heterosexual man who's thrown out of his house by his girlfriend and ends up on the doorstep of a gay friend, Norbert. Fending off advances from Norbert and his friends, Axel finds himself growing closer to them (hence the title) just as his girlfriend discovers she's pregnant. Scheduled for an April release, Maybe...Maybe Not was directed by Sonke Wortmann and is based on a series of German comic books by artist Ralf Konig.
...New Yorker...
Opening in February,Crows tells the story of a lonely, neglected child who kidnaps a younger girl in her desperate desire for love. Written and directed by Dorota Kezierawska, the film stars Karolina Ostrozny, Kasia Szczepanic and Anna Prucnal and will be distributed in its native Polish with English subtitles. Directed by Gianni Amelio (Stolen Children, Open Doors), L'America stars Enrico Lo Verso as a brash young Italian who heads to Albania to create a dummy corporation and reap riches from the country's battered economy after the fall of communism Since no foreigner can head a company, Lo Verso finds a 70-year-old political prisoner who has served 50 years of hard labor. Just confused and passive enough to be their figurehead, he is put "in charge," only the man has plans of his own and Lo Verso goes in pursuit, only to have the chic trappings of his life stripped away by the Albanian refugees trying to escape to a better life in Italy. The film has won a number of festival awards in Europe and gets its national release early in the year.
...Kit Parker Films...
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| Living the American Dream in Nueba Yol. |
Writer/Producer/Director Angel Muñiz delivers Nueba Yol, a film about Balbuena, a hapless immigrant played by Luisito Martí, who takes a friend's advice to mortgage his home to make his greatest dream -- to go to New York -- ("where the dollars are flying in the streets and people don't even notice them.") come true. It takes Balbuena a bit of time to reconcile his fantasy with the reality of this strange country, devoid of all the comforts of his native customs, language and culture. The ultimate catch comes when he falls in love with Nancy Martínez (Caridad Ravelo) who's had enough of the harsh realities of America and is heading back to her native Dominican Republic. From Tunisia comes Le Magique, an autobiographical film by Azdine Melliti about his experience when he was left behind in a poor Tunisian village and his parents emigrated to France. Wandering into Tunis, the boy is hypnotized by the spectacle of movies and attempts to make his own film version of Spartacus. The film will be released in the spring.
...Samuel Goldwyn Company...
Opening in late January, Angels & Insects is director Philip Haas's (The Music of Chance) drama from an adaptation of the novella, "Morpho Eugenia" by A. S. Byatt. Set in the 19th Century, the film stars Kristin Scott Thomas, Patsy Kensit and Mark Rylance in a drama of love, passion and social behavior. Making his directorial debut, Anthony Hopkins's August features several love triangles in a country house in North Wales in the 1890's. Starring along with Hopkins is Kate Burton, who plays the object of his desire in this film based on Chekhov's "Uncle Vanya." August premieres in March along with Hard Eight, a film about professional gamblers, the casino world of Reno, murder and revenge. Written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, Hard Eight stars Philip Baker Hall as the professional gambler, John C. Reilly as his pupil along with Gwyneth Paltrow and Sam Jackson in supporting roles. I Shot Andy Warhol stars Lili Taylor (The Addiction, Household Saints) as Valerie Solanis, the woman who gunned down Warhol and almost killed him. Presenting the world surrounding Warhol in the late '60s in a riveting story of a radical feminist, the film also features Jared Harris (Smoke, Blue in the Face), Martha Plimpton (Parenthood, Running on Empty) and Stephen Dorff (Backbeat). John Cale, formerly of the Velvet Underground, composed the music for this late March release.
...Savoy...
Based on the best-selling children's book series, The Stupids brings Tom Arnold and Jessica Lundy together for a whimsical spoof of their unusual lives, blundering their way into life or death situations without a scratch. The Dumb and Dumber craze continues.
...Seventh Art...
Due to hit theaters in January is Give A Damn Again, a documentary by Adam Isadore, the son of Tony Isadore, an advertising executive who developed a series of commercials for the 1968 "Give a Damn" public service campaign. The spots, originally commissioned by former New York Mayor John Lindsey and the Urban Coalition, asked a group of seven-year-olds in Harlem, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" Twenty-seven years later, the younger Isadore (who was about the age of the kids in the spots when they aired) tracks down the children in the commercials to see how their answers differed from what they are doing today. Detailing their successes and failures, Isadore shows a powerful portrait of America in 1968 versus 1995. Fans of Michael Apted's 7-28 Up series and Hoop Dreams won't want to miss this documentary. Man of the Year, part documentary and part re-enactment, was written, directed and stars Dick Shafer about his experiences as Playgirl Magazine's "Man of the Year." As part of the package, the thoroughly gay Shafer acted as the magazine's heterosexual spokesperson for "what women want in a man." Shafer, who did the talk show circuit and had a female friend act as his girlfriend, kept his real-life lover out of the picture as a militant gay group attempted to "out" Shafer on national television. Shafer gets the last laugh by telling the story his way. Man of the Year is scheduled for release in late February '96.
...Sony Pictures...
The Last Supper stars Cameron Diaz, Annabeth Gish, Ron Eldard, Jonathan Penner and Courtney Vance as ultra-PC graduate students who get into a heated political discussion and launch a devilish plan to combat conservatism in the 90's. Although a comedy, the young idealists apparently discover that being politically correct can be murder. The film, directed by Stacey Title, who received an Academy Award nomination for Down on the Waterfront in 1993, will be in theaters in early March. I'm guessing The Last Supper was a very strong script to attract these stars as well as cameos by Bill Paxton, Jason Alexander, Mark Harmon, Ron Perlman, Nora Dunn and Charles Durning. The documentary Anne Frank Remembered will premiere in late February, combining personal testimony, photos, family letters and rare archive footage to recall the spirited Jewish girl whose diary of her two years in hiding has sold over 25 million copies in 54 languages since it was first published in 1947.
...Strand Releasing...
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| Filming The Hemp Revolution in Nepal. |
...Tara Releasing...
Just in time for Valentine's Day, Tara releases A Modern Affair starring Lisa Eichhorn (King of the Hill, The Europeans, Cutter's Way) as a Manhattan businesswoman who wants to have a child but doesn't have a man in her life. Urged by a friend, Eichhorn heads to a sperm bank and gets pregnant, only knowing about the father through a description he wrote about himself. That not being enough for her, she searches out the specimen donor (played by Stanley Tucci of Kiss of Death and Murder One) and the film heads into more familiar love story territory with a few twists and turns about the ethics of the situation. There are some strong performances here and hopefully it will lead to more frequent projects for Eichhorn. Tango Feroz is an Argentine film just being brought to the States about an outspoken, idealistic rock and roll singer who does battle with government authorities through his songs and followers. After a trumped-up jail term, Tango (played by Fernan Miras) gets out to find his lyrics altered and his fight against authority escalates. The film will hit theaters in early March and was directed by Marcelo Pineyro, the producer of The Official Story.
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| Mirjana Jokovic flees a raging Bosnian fire in Vukovar, a film by Boro Draskovic being distributed by Tara. |
...Troma...
Critics (though no one is specifically named) have called Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D. the "Citizen Kane of Troma Movies." The mythical tale turns Bronx Cop Harry Griswold into a raw fish-eating superhero who has the powers of the traditional art of Kabuki, such as heat-seeking chopsticks and computerized 16-byte sushi. Starring Rick Gianasi and directed by The Toxic Avenger's father, Lloyd Kaufman, Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D. will open at the Film Forum in New York in late May.
...Vidmark Entertainment...
On the video release front, Vidmark brings us The Break, the tale of a burned-out tennis pro who's forced to coach an awkward 17-year-old rookie to the big time. What Martin Sheen and Rae Dawn Chong are doing in this movie is anybody's guess. Love it or hate it, Kids is also coming to video in late January. Now you can find out what all the fuss was about. MM